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Brandon Weeden report card: A look back at all the season's passes

Browns vs. Redskins

Cleveland Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden pulls back on a pass as Washington Redskins Barry Colfield pressures on the play in the third quarter at Cleveland Browns Stadium on Sunday, December 16, 2012, in Cleveland, Ohio. The Washington Redskins defeated the Cleveland Browns, 38-21. (Phil Masturzo/Akron Beacon Journal/MCT)
(Photo by Associated Press)

Quarterback is arguably the most important position in professional team sports. Of the quarterback's many responsibilities, throwing the ball is by far the most important -- especially in today's NFL. The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com tracked Cleveland's passing plays this season using a series of categories. The main objective was to search for clues/patterns/tendencies that could help explain why rookie Brandon Weeden performed as he did.

Weeden made all the throws for the Browns through 14 1/2 games. He suffered a shoulder injury late in the third quarter in the 15th game and did not play the 16th.

The season report

Below are game-by-game capsules from the 15 report cards filed. Included in each stat line is "throw quality,'' which was subjectively judged by The Plain Dealer on a scale ranging from 1 (lousy) to 3 (expected for NFL QB) to 5 (superb).

Summary: Struggled in all phases, beginning with getting trapped under American flag in pregame ceremony. Best pass was his first -- a short completion that ended up gaining 24 yards. Rush bothered him, especially on his last throw, which was intercepted by Kurt Coleman to clinch outcome. Finished 3-of-18 for 49 yards and three interceptions when Eagles applied moderate or heavy pressure. Dinked and dunked too much: His 12 completions resulted from balls thrown a combined 30 yards in air from line of scrimmage. Ineffective downfield: Went 0-of-8 with three picks on throws of 10+ yards. GRADE: F

Summary: Impressive rebound from Philadelphia debacle. Poised, confident and decisive throughout. Good pocket presence. Never seemed out of sorts. Made his best attribute, arm strength, work for him. Five of his throws were 5's. (Had zero 5's in Week 1.) Only one throw was a 1. (In Week 1, he posted seven 1's.) Created plays by throwing accurately and not giving away target on dumpoffs/extended handoffs. Receivers amassed 183 yards after catch. Went 10-of-12 with one sack on third down; seven of those completions resulted in first downs. GRADE B+

Summary: Browns needed good performance from their quarterback to win; they did not get it. Squandered numerous opportunities to exploit defense that is far from dominant. Sputtered in fourth quarter, going 6-of-10 for 40 yards in four possessions. Sacked twice and intercepted twice in fourth -- the picks ended the last two possessions. Accounting for 21 yards lost to sacks, his offense generated 19 net yards passing in the fourth while attempting a comeback. Completed just six passes overall that were in air 10+ yards from line of scrimmage. GRADE: D

Summary: Faced a quality opponent in a hostile environment in prime time and put his team in position to win. Threw a pick-6 in third quarter. Even when factoring in the interception and his team's loss, performance provided plenty of positive signs. Receivers let him down: Of the 27 incompletions, 10 hit receivers' hands/gloves before hitting the ground. All 10 were not pinpoint-accurate throws -- most were high -- and the ball was wet, but upper-tier receivers would be disappointed not to catch them. Showed decisiveness and grit in the face of myriad blitzes: Took just the one sack in 53 dropbacks. GRADE: C+

Summary: So-so performance. Two of his best throws to date (the TD passes) were effectively negated by two brutal mistakes (the picks, both deep in Giants territory). In between, he made a lot of ordinary plays and not enough high-quality ones. Connected with Josh Gordon for TDs of 62 and 20 yards. Relied too much on the dink-and-dunk: Subtracting TDs to Gordon, he was 20-of-33 for 209 yards. Flagged for throwing two forward passes on one play in fourth quarter. Passer rating was best among AFC North quarterbacks that day. GRADE: C-

Summary: Helped end Browns' 11-game losing streak dating to last season. Showed that a quarterback does not need to throw for high volume of yards to have good game. Made more quality passes in high-leverage situations than counterpart Andy Dalton. Went 8-of-9 for 92 yards and one touchdown after tweaking his ankle in third quarter. Went 7-of-10 for 141 yards and one touchdown on 12 third-down dropbacks. Threw 71-yard TD pass to Josh Gordon in first quarter. Interception came after batted pass at line. Eight receivers caught passes. GRADE: A-

Summary: Midway through fourth quarter, he threw a terrific deep ball under pressure -- but Josh Gordon dropped what would have been a 41-yard TD and potential game-winner. For most of game, he played it safe: On passes that were in air anywhere from behind line to 10 yards from scrimmage, he was 19-of-26 for 170 yards. Threw 19 passes that traveled no more than five yards in the air. Outperformed counterpart Andrew Luck. Displayed good pocket awareness. Lacked urgency in the two-minute drill. GRADE: B

Summary: He and counterpart Philip Rivers (18-of-34, 154 yards) were forced to deal with nasty weather. Wind, rain and cold on the shore of Lake Erie turned game into a muddy chess match for field position. Took care of ball: Zero interceptions or fumbles in 30 dropbacks, extending streak to 98 non-penalty dropbacks without a turnover. Threw just six passes that traveled 10+ yards in air from line of scrimmage. Made two excellent throws on designed rolls to right. Completed just one pass when line of scrimmage was in San Diego territory. Lost three potential first downs to mishandling by receivers. GRADE: C

Summary: What looked bad in real time was worse upon review of telecast: Weeden had a forgettable afternoon. Uncomfortable and unsure of himself most of the time. Much better in first meeting against Baltimore despite playing against healthier defense. Seemed intimidated by presence of Ravens safety Ed Reed. Browns have zero TDs despite five possessions beginning at Cleveland 39 or better. Analyst Rich Gannon cracked Weeden for bad rhythm, tempo, footwork, field vision, pocket presence, decisions, throws and game management. Gannon sounded like someone who expected Weeden to have been considerably further along in his development. GRADE: F

Summary: Did not quite pass eye test -- in real time or further review. Wild high on handful of throws. Did not attempt a pass that traveled 21+ yards in the air from line of scrimmage. Dallas coordinator Rob Ryan created confusion by repeatedly dropping linebackers into coverage. Weeden failed to "throw open'' receivers enough. Several replays showed opportunities seemingly available downfield if he had been willing to be bolder; those plays did not require him to be a gunslinger or reckless. Threw 17-yard TD to Benjamin Watson with 1:07 left that put Browns ahead, 20-17. GRADE: C

Summary: First up-close look at Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau's schemes resulted in uneven and largely uninspiring performance. As much as in any of Weeden's 11 games to date, this one was wide-open to interpretation, the passes and stats cloaked in ambiguity. Did not do anything that made Steelers nervous. Went 2-of-7 for 29 yards on passes that traveled 10+ yards in the air from the line of scrimmage. Did not capitalize nearly enough on decent field position throughout. Rookie quarterbacks had been 1-14 against LeBeau since LeBeau's return to Pittsburgh as DC in 2004. Interception was returned for TD after pass batted at line. GRADE: C-

Summary: Browns snapped 12-game road losing streak dating to last season, In real time, Weeden was good. Upon dvr review, he was even better. Threw ball as well as he had in any of previous 11 games, but this was his best performance in terms of total contribution. Did not merely manage game; factored heavily in winning it. Hung in against pressure. Led 14-play, 94-yard TD drive in fourth quarter that made score 20-10. Thirteen pass plays gained 10+ yards, including nine for 18+. Receivers had 198 YAC. Two interceptions were deep in Oakland territory. GRADE: A-

Summary: In real time, Weeden's performance was solid. Upon dvr review of the CBS telecast, it was even better -- the second straight week of such an assessment. Back-to-back TD passes in third quarter nullified by (supposed) penalties. Most of the incompletions did not result from bad throws. Avoided sequences of wild throws that make teammates, coaches and fans cringe. Throwing mechanics were as smooth as they had been all season. As usual, velocity came with minimal effort. GRADE: B

Summary: Alarmingly bad performance. Unsure of himself and what he wanted to do with the ball. Failed to exploit NFL's 28th-ranked defense overall and 31st defense against the pass. Washington backup Kirk Cousins (26-of-37 for 329 yards, two TDs, INT) thoroughly outplayed him. In five first-quarter possessions, Browns produced just seven points. Analyst Mike Martz said Weeden was reluctant to throw downfield and into tight windows, thereby passing up big-play opportunities. Both interceptions were converted into Redskins TDs. GRADE: D-

Summary: Suffered shoulder injury late in third quarter and was replaced by Colt McCoy. He and McCoy combined to average 3.9 yards on 36 passes. Defenses had gotten wise to Weeden's dink-and-dunk preference weeks earlier. Linebackers and safeties compressed the field, daring Weeden to beat them over the top. For most of second half of season, Weeden passed on the challenge. Weeden made one pass that traveled 21-plus yards in air; it was an incompletion intended for Gordon. McCoy had none of 21-plus. Weeden posted just two "5'' throws in his last three games. GRADE: C-

Conclusion: Weeden showed flashes of why Browns drafted him No. 22 overall in April, but, overall, his rookie season was a disappointment. He did not demonstrate enough improvement in accuracy, reading defenses and feel for game, and he was reluctant to make enough challenging throws. On balance, he seemed uncomfortable in the West Coast offense. If Weeden is to succeed with the Browns -- or any team -- in the future, he almost certainly will need to play in a vertical scheme.

FINAL GRADE: C-

Positives and negatives

Here are some positives and negatives from Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden's rookie season. They are based on a dvr review of every pass play and include composite observations of national analysts who worked the game for TV

Not as accurate as advertised, especially with passes 15+ yards in the air.

Periodically lacked game awareness, including two forward passes in one play.

Too quick to check down and otherwise dink/dunk.

Too quick to throw balls away when pocket broke down.

Struggled to adjust when linebackers dropped from line into coverage and dared him to throw into populated areas.

Did not "throw open'' receivers enough, especially against press-man coverage.

Lacked creativity and instinctive feel needed to extend plays.

Too deliberate in two-minute offense.

Prone to streakiness within games.

Did not fully capitalize on one of Cleveland's best offensive lines in years.

Did not threaten end zone enough when drives got inside opponent's 30-yard line.

Analyze it yourself! Here is a database of all the Browns passes Dennis Manoloff and a squad of assistants have tracked this season. You can select them by the criteria in the form below and get all the matching throws.

How to use the database

First, choose a quarterback.

After that, choose one or more of the other options for comparisons, such as Receiver, or Pressure, or Direction of throw. (Tip: Don't choose too many.)

Click search. You will need to scroll right and left to see all the matched results. You can sort the results and look for more patterns by clicking on the heading of any. Click on "Throw #" at far right to put the throws back into their original order.

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